Turtles06

Agreed. The non-Haven suites on the Jewel-class ships have the same benefits as the Haven suites, except for access to the Haven courtyard area and sun deck. And just to clarify for newbies about breakfast and lunch — while the physical spaces of Moderno and Cagney’s are used for breakfast and lunch, respectively, the menus are special breakfast and lunch menus for suite guests. I think the breakfast is one of the best benefits of being in a suite. I’ve found the lunch menu too limited and heavy, but others of course may feel differently.

The only thing that makes the embarkation day lunch special is that you get to have a sit down meal in the MDR and can avoid the chaos of the buffet. The menu is limited, but the food has been good (our last sailing was in Dec. 2021, so I can't say what it's like right now). As others have said, bring your own binoculars. The Silhouette is a wonderful ship. Enjoy!

The dinner options are the same as for all guests. The MDRs, the buffet, and the other included venues, and the specialty dining venues. https://www.ncl.com/cruise-ship/jewel/whats-on-board/dining

We've sailed in forward-facing suites on four cruises, and have never encountered such restrictions. When the ship is underway, you need to be especially careful opening the sea door, and make sure you hook it to the bulkhead behind it once it's open. As for being on the balcony at night, that's fine too. See my comment immediately above about star gazing.

Based on my personal experience, this is not a negative, and in fact is a plus. Once it's dark out, having your curtains open does nothing when you have lights on in your cabin -- you can't see out, you'll just see reflections of the lights in your windows. It's no big deal to close your curtains. And, weather permitting, the darkness in the bow makes for great stargazing from your balcony.

Will this be your first visit to Cartagena? I realize everyone's interests are different, but we've been there twice, and imho it's far too interesting a city to spend the time on a shopping tour. Is there no NCL tour of the walled city? Again, YMMV.

Please just keep in mind that if you are handling your own transportation to the airport you may have to take a shuttle bus from the pier to another location to get a taxi or Uber. It will depend on the status of the cruise terminal. Have you looked into an airport transfer through NCL?

😮😳😮

If you haven’t done so already, a good place to research this and ask your question is over in the Africa and Middle East ports of call forum: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/19-africa-amp-middle-east/

Have you been to Cartagena before? We’ve visited twice. I just want to give you my own perspective that it’s far too interesting a city to spend one’s time on a shopping tour. Is there no NCL excursion that will give you a tour of the old city?

In the port of call forum (and maybe search in this forum too), look at recommendations for private tour operators serving Puntarenas. I highly recommend a tour that includes a boat ride on the Tarcoles River.

A great, upbeat song!

“Panama Canal officials will cut available slots for ship transits by half this winter as extreme drought leaves the man-made waterway lacking enough water. The changes come after Panama Canal experienced its driest October on record, continuing a monthslong spell of warmer temperatures and low rainfall. Officials have already restricted traffic on the waterway, which handles around 7% of global seaborne trade. The canal administration said daily reservation slots will be cut to 25 this month, 22 in December, 20 in January and 18 in February. Last month the canal had 32 daily transits. The waterway can normally handle an average of 40 transits a day.” The point is made that this will most affect ships without advance reservations. (I’ve shared the full article through what should be a free link, so I hope you can open it) https://www.wsj.com/business/logistics/panama-canal-to-halve-daily-sailings-this-winter-due-to-drought-3bd70c79?st=o80w0aj6ogeatam&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

My wife is an avid rower and I’ve asked the same question in the past re various ships. It’s been some years since we were on the Jewel, and there was at least one erg then. But I hope you’ll hear from a more recent cruiser on that ship. One thing that has been universally true is that the ergs are badly maintained. The chains aren’t oiled, for example, and thus may be in awful condition. The slide is not regularly wiped down and thus may not be smooth. The monitor may not work because the battery is dead, and the staff who work in the fitness center haven’t got a clue because they don’t check the equipment. They also don’t know how to change the battery, a really simple matter. When my wife has pointed out a dead battery to a staff member, she’s been told they have to call maintenance. Fine, but days elapse with nothing done. If I recall correctly, she once just brought a battery up there and changed it herself. I hope your son finds the equipment in decent condition.

Get a porter in the baggage claim area inside the cruise terminal and let them know you’ll be needing a taxi. They will put your bags on a cart and once you pass through immigration will walk you across 12th Avenue and put you into a cab. Give them a nice tip. 😊

Do you seriously think NCL is not working on this right now? It’s not a simple matter for a cruise line to change an itinerary with little notice and time, especially when it’s suddenly dealing with a war zone and all of the day to day unpredictability of what is going on in the region.

Yes, according to the RCI forum. One poster put up this link: https://il.usembassy.gov/security-alert-10/

According to the RCI board, that’s exactly what she’s doing. One poster put up this link: https://il.usembassy.gov/security-alert-10/

😳 Another good example for locking inactive threads after a certain period of time.

Thanks for the kind words about my photos. I think most of your questions about this suite have been answered, but I’ve posted two photos below of the balcony and the view when you are seated (one of my happy feet photos 😊), so you can see that, when seated, you can see the water over the bow. As for the sea door, yes you can leave it open when underway, but be sure it is hooked in the back to the bulkhead. And when closing it, please be really careful not to have your fingers anywhere near the door frame. It’s a great suite; enjoy it!

We’re booked on a New England/Canada cruise aboard the Eclipse round trip out of Boston a year from now. It’s the last of three similar itineraries before the ship repositions to Florida for the winter, and was selling very well. A couple of weekends ago, folks on our Roll Call noticed that the cruise no longer appeared on Celebrity’s web site nor on the sites of major TAs. Our bookings were still intact, however. At first, I thought this might be a weekend IT glitch, but it’s been two weeks and nothing has changed. This cruise simply does not show up as an option for booking. It’s MIA on the web site. Some of us have called Celebrity to ask about this, and have been told the cruise is sold out. I suppose that’s possible, but we’re a year out and it certainly will not remain in that status. Has anyone experienced something like this? Any fact-based thoughts about why the cruise may have been pulled off the web site? Thanks!

I looked up your itinerary to see if you have a port call to Puntarenas, Costa Rica, and I see that you do. That would really be the place to take the sort of coffee from start to finish tour that you are talking about. We took one several years ago; I’m not a coffee drinker and even I enjoyed seeing the entire process.

A few years ago, the folks at the Caves advised us that if we were going to see them on our own, to be sure we had a reservation. They said the cruise lines book up available slots, and if you go out there without a reservation, you may be out of luck. Unfortunately, the travel distance from the Dockyard and a ship’s schedule might make seeing the Caves via a ship’s tour advisable (as unnecessary as that otherwise would be).

Especially if you enjoy the casual atmosphere of NCL, I’d take a very hard look at Cunard’s evening dress code rules. I believe they apply not only in the dining venues, but also in other public areas of the ship. Read as much as you can about this and make sure you know what you’d be getting into.

I second this advice. Please be sure you understand from your own physician all relevant do-s, don’t-s, and potential issues with going through a scanner or other screening device.